Two and a half months late, I've finally completed my Top Albums list of 2005. Overall, 2005 seemed to be a decent year for new music. It wasn't filled with all of the new music trends that made 2004 so great but there were still a number of really solid albums released. I found myself listening to a lot more pop-oriented music this year. I also listened to a lot more folk / acoustic stuff then I have in the past. I didn't bite on the New Weird America folk movement last year but found myself listening to that stuff more and more this year. My find of the year is #7 The Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers. It's something different altogether and I have heard virtually nothing about the band. Check it out if you get the chance. This makes my second straight year with Sufjan Stevens in the top spot. That boy must be on to something. Feel free to comment on this list as I always enjoy hearing what others are listening to...
*****Top 100 Albums of 2005*****
| 1) | Sufjan Stevens | Illinois |
| 2) | Architecture In Helsinki | In Case We Die |
| 3) | Caribou | The Milk of Human Kindness |
| 4) | Spoon | Gimme Fiction |
| 5) | Kaiser Chiefs | Employment |
| 6) | Crooked Fingers | Dignity and Shame |
| 7) | The Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers | The Mother of Love Emulates the Shapes of Cynthia |
| 8) | Bell Orchestre | Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light |
| 9) | The Decemberists | Picaresque |
| 10) | 13 & God | 13 & God |
| 11) | Wolf Parade | Apologies to the Queen Mary |
| 12) | Antony & the Johnsons | I Am a Bird Now |
| 13) | My Morning Jacket | Z |
| 14) | Beck | Guero |
| 15) | Gang of Four | Return the Gift |
| 16) | Hot Hot Heat | Elevator |
| 17) | Franz Ferdinand | You Could Have It So Much Better |
| 18) | Bright Eyes | I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning |
| 19) | New Pornographers | Twin Cinema |
| 20) | Mars Volta | Frances the Mute |
| 21) | The Bravery | The Bravery |
| 22) | Devendra Banhart | Cripple Crow |
| 23) | LCD Soundsystem | LCD Soundsystem |
| 24) | Matt Sweeney & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Superwolf |
| 25) | Why? | Elephant Eyelash |
| 26) | Art Brut | Bang Bang Rock & Roll |
| 27) | Death Cab For Cutie | Plans |
| 28) | Bloc Party | Silent Alarm / Silent Alarm Remixed |
| 29) | Of Montreal | The Sunlandic Twins |
| 30) | Animal Collective | Feels |
| 31) | Ladytron | Witching Hour |
| 32) | Clap Your Hands Say Yeah | Clap Your Hands Say Yeah |
| 33) | Doves | Some Cities |
| 34) | Brian Eno | Another Day on Earth |
| 35) | Vitalic | Ok Cowboy |
| 36) | Fischerspooner | Odyssey |
| 37) | Kanye West | Late Registration |
| 38) | The Books | Lost and Safe |
| 39) | Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band | Horses in the Sky |
| 40) | Hood | Outside Closer |
| 41) | Sigur Ros | Takk... |
| 42) | Broken Social Scene | Broken Social Scene |
| 43) | The Hold Steady | Separation Sunday |
| 44) | Kathleen Edwards | Back to Me |
| 45) | CocoRosie | Noah's Ark |
| 46) | Maximo Park | A Certain Trigger |
| 47) | Bright Eyes | Digital Ash In a Digital Urn |
| 48) | The White Stripes | Get Behind Me Satan |
| 49) | The Boy Least Likely To | The Best Party Ever |
| 50) | Metric | Live It Out |
| 51) | Low | The Great Destroyer |
| 52) | Blueprint | 1988 |
| 53) | Boards of Canada | The Campfire Headphase |
| 54) | Danger Doom | The Mouse and the Mask |
| 55) | The Russian Futurists | Our Thickness |
| 56) | The Double | Loose in the Air |
| 57) | Coldplay | X&Y |
| 58) | Tenement Halls | Knitting Needles & Bicycle Bells |
| 59) | Smog | A River Ain't Too Much to Love |
| 60) | Okkervil River | Black Sheep Boy |
| 61) | Editors | The Back Room |
| 62) | Fruit Bats | Spelled In Bones |
| 63) | South San Gabriel | The Carlton Chronicles |
| 64) | System of a Down | Mezmerize |
| 65) | Dirty Three | Cinder |
| 66) | The Drift | Noumena |
| 67) | Black Rebel Motorcycle Club | Howl |
| 68) | The Clientele | Strange Geometry |
| 69) | Eels | Blinking Lights and Other Revelations |
| 70) | The Fiery Furnaces | Rehearsing My Choir |
| 71) | Broadcast | Tender Buttons |
| 72) | The Gorillaz | Demon Days |
| 73) | Fiona Apple | Extraordinary Machine |
| 74) | Buck 65 | Secret House Against the World |
| 75) | Hockey Night | Keep Guessin' |
| 76) | Heavy Trash | Heavy Trash |
| 77) | Portastatic | Bright Ideas |
| 78) | Angels of Light & Akron Family | Akron Family & Angels of Light |
| 79) | Serena-Maneesh | Serena-Maneesh |
| 80) | The Boredoms | Seadrum House of Sun |
| 81) | Xiu Xiu | LA Foret |
| 82) | Andrew Bird | The Mysterious Production of Eggs |
| 83) | Royksopp | The Understanding |
| 84) | Sage Francis | A Healthy Distrust |
| 85) | Deerhoof | The Runners Four |
| 86) | Magnolia Electric Company | What Comes After the Blues |
| 87) | Common | Be |
| 88) | The Silver Jews | Tanglewood Numbers |
| 89) | M83 | Before the Dawn Heals Us |
| 90) | Logh | A Sunset Panorama |
| 91) | Blackalicious | The Craft |
| 92) | Lightning Bolt | Hypermagic Mountain |
| 93) | Mu | Out of Breach (Manchester's Revenge) |
| 94) | Stephen Malkmus | Face the Truth |
| 95) | Love Is All | Nine Times That Same Song |
| 96) | Super Furry Animals | Love Kraft |
| 97) | Frank Black | Honeycomb |
| 98) | M.Ward | Transistor Radio |
| 99) | The Rosebuds | Birds Make Good Neighbors |
| 100) | The Cardigans | Super Extra Gravity |
*****Top EPs, Compilations, B-sides / Rarities, Soundtracks, Live Albums for 2004*****
| Calexico / Iron & Wine | In the Rains EP |
| Iron & Wine | Woman King EP |
| Belle & Sebastian | Push Barman to Open Old Wounds |
| Destroyer (with Frog Eyes) | Notorious Lighting & Other Works EP |
| Enon | Lost Marbles and Exploded Evidence |
| The Fall | The Complete Peel Sessions 1978-2004 |
| The Fiery Furnaces | EP |
| Electrelane | Axes (Live) |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | B-Sides & Rarities |
| Orange Juice | The Glasgow School (Rereleased Singles) |
| Ween | Shinola Vol. 1 |
| Stereolab | Oscillons From the Anti-Sun |
| Yo La Tengo | Prisoners of Love: A Smattering of Scintillating |
| Bjork | Drawing Restraint 9 Soundtrack |
| Bonnie 'Prince' Billy | Summer In the Southeast (Live) |
Here are my album lists from other years:
-ick!